Accounting and Accountants

News about accounting and accountants, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Aug. 22, 2014

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column observes that credit rating and auditing industries continue to be plagued by conflicts of interest and consistent errors despite increased government oversight; examines difficulties in navigating regulation in both cases. MORE

Aug. 16, 2014

Editorial decries arbitration panel's finding that auditor Ernst & Young is innocent of malpractice accusations tied to its review of Lehman Brothers' financial condition before its collapse in 2008; holds that panel's claim that Lehman was 'more culpable' than Ernst in misleading investors does not excuse Ernst of all responsibility; calls for reforms of auditing system in order to avoid future auditing oversights. MORE

Aug. 11, 2014

A ruling by a panel of former judges found that Lehman Brothers management, not Ernst & Young, was most responsible for setting in motion a maneuver that let Lehman move billions off its balance sheet. MORE

Jun. 13, 2014

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column notes that while the United States is unlikely to convert to international accounting rules in the foreseeable future, recent developments suggest that some domestic companies will be allowed to convert to such rules if they wish; cites comments by new SEC chairwoman Mary Jo White and former chairman Chris Cox. MORE

May. 9, 2014

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column examines new British rules that require auditors to comment on particular risks companies face and to say what they did to deal with those risks; argues that new rules open the way for firms to indicate just how diligent they have been and for investors to evaluate them and predicts that trend toward frankness will continue. MORE

Apr. 11, 2014

Survey released by International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators finds that public company and bank audits conducted around the globe by units affiliated with world’s six largest accounting firms are persistently riddled with flaws; results raise major policy questions about whether global regulators have done enough to improve audit quality since 2007-9 financial crisis. MORE

Jan. 25, 2014

Securities and Exchange Commission says accounting firm KPMG agrees to pay $8.2 million to settle civil charges that it violated independence rules by providing nonauditing services to three companies that it audited. MORE

Jan. 15, 2014

State and local governments are being urged to stop using budget gimmicks that obscure true extent of their money problems; State Budget Crisis Task Force, issues final report calling for end to complicated accounting practices that make sinking budgets appear balanced; federal task force was appointed to examine years of painful service cuts and devastating bankruptcies, culminating in the financial collapse of Detroit. MORE

Dec. 8, 2013

Gray Matter column by Prof Michael Greenstone describes study he co-authored, published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics, that found altering auditors' incentives to mitigate the conflict of interest leads auditors to report more truthfully; contends future economic crises could be avoided by removing the fundamental conflict of interest behind the auditing of public firms and the rating of financial products. MORE

Nov. 22, 2013

A regulator said that Deloitte & Touche, for the second consecutive year, had failed to correct deficiencies in its audit procedures to its satisfaction. MORE

Nov. 10, 2013

Gretchen Morgenson Fair Game column observes that managers of companies that have generated only losses, like Twitter, are happy to suggest metrics that they think are better suited for assessing their operations; points out Twitter is just one of many companies that point shareholders to rosier earnings measures. MORE

Oct. 25, 2013

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column examines details of case in which the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has fined Deloitte & Touche $2 million for using an auditor who had been banned from the industry; says case exemplifies industry's stubborn resistance to outside advice, and the need for accounting partners to be held liable in client fraud. MORE

Oct. 9, 2013

Xerox says Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating some accounting practices at Affiliated Computer Services, made before it acquired division in 2010. MORE

Sep. 13, 2013

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column notes that British regulatory tribunal has ruled that accountants must always work in the public interest, shift that will derail lucrative new deal-making businesses that many accounting firms have undertaken; examines details of case involving Deloitte LLP and 2000 takeover of MG Rover that led to ruling. MORE

Aug. 19, 2013

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board found deficiencies in some audits of brokerage firms. MORE

Aug. 15, 2013

Sweeping legislation in India aims at auditing reform, with stiffer penalties for fraud and more government oversight of businesses. MORE

Aug. 13, 2013

The proposal by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board could provide investors with deeper insights into the health of corporations. MORE

Jul. 19, 2013

For several years, professionals known as actuaries, who run pension plans for a living, have been fighting over how to calculate the value, in today’s dollars, of future pension payments. MORE

Jun. 10, 2013

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants plans to announce creation of 'framework' that will simplify accounting for small companies that will differ from 'generally accepted accounting principles;' Financial Accounting Standards Board also plans to propose its first exceptions for private companies. MORE

May. 24, 2013

Years in the making, the deal was hailed as a step toward more enforcement cooperation between the two countries. MORE

May. 16, 2013

Proposed changes on reporting leases, backed by the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board of the United States, are unlikely to satisfy many corporations. MORE

Apr. 10, 2013

The fresh look at internal practices came after news that a senior partner at KPMG gave confidential information about two clients. MORE

Mar. 15, 2013

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column notes that loose American accounting rules allow large banks that trade in derivatives to keep trillions of dollars in assets and liabilities off balance sheets, making it difficult to evaluate their size or compare them; holds such comparisons will be marginally easier when European and American banks start using similar disclosures in first quarter of 2013. MORE

Feb. 15, 2013

Financial Accounting Standards Board proposes to substantially reduce the use of market values in financial statements; move, if adopted, would give banks more freedom to value financial assets as they deem appropriate. MORE

Dec. 21, 2012

Financial Accounting Standards Board proposes new accounting rule that would often force banks to take loan write-downs well before loans actually go bad; rules, stricter than those proposed by international bodies, are unlikely to take effect for several years. MORE

Dec. 7, 2012

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column notes that American and Canadian regulators face a huge task in obtaining even the most basic accounting information about Chinese companies from country's authorities; cites case in which an extensive audit by Ernst & Young of Sino-Forest Corporation failed to discover that company had virtually no assets. MORE

Nov. 30, 2012

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column analyzes Hewlett-Packard's claim that fraudulent accounting practices at Autonomy, company it acquired in 2011, have forced it to make an $8.8 billion write-down; contends that HP's accusation is short on details, but notes that there were significant inconsistencies in the auditing process before the acquisition. MORE

Aug. 24, 2012

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column observes that In a disturbing trend, more audits are failing quality reviews, and the problem is not limited to work done by small firms; points out the percentage of audits reviewed by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board that were deficient rose sharply in 2010 from 2009. MORE

Aug. 21, 2012

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board says it has found deficiencies in every audit of brokerage firms that it has reviewed; contends the many auditors who inspect their financial statements appear to be cutting corners and not doing all the work they should do. MORE

Jul. 20, 2012

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column observes meeting of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board reveals the divisions between the two that prevent agreement on a single set of worldwide rules; points out they disagree over how banks should account for loans that may be going bad. MORE

Jul. 14, 2012

Securities and Exchange Commission releases a long-delayed study about use of international accounting standards in the United States; report contains no recommendations, but its general tone is far more cautious than proponents of the use of international standards had hoped. MORE

Jun. 8, 2012

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column observes that trustees trying to unravel what happened at MF Global have focused on one technique, granted under current accounting rules, that allowed the firm to buy bonds and book immediate profits; contends bad accounting at the company both encouraged and obscured risk-taking that ended in collapse and scandal. MORE

May. 24, 2012

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board revokes the registration of Brock, Schechter and Polakoff and fines its $20,000; Buffalo firm agreed in 2006 to be auditor of record for several Chinese and Taiwanese companies whose shares are registered in the United States, despite having no auditing experience. MORE

May. 11, 2012

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column examines ongoing efforts to institute a common set of high-quality global accounting standards; contends it is unlikely that a single set of standards will ever come to fruition, but says the best hope for those standards, if they are imposed, would be their enforcement by the United States. MORE

May. 11, 2012

Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers, two of the biggest global auditing firms, will accept new directive from China's Ministry of Finance to staff their local operations with Chinese citizens. MORE

Nov. 11, 2011

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column contends malleable accounting regulations that banks pushed for in previous years have begun to yield unintended consequences; predicts that inflated profits emerging in third-quarter reports at big financial institutions could easily become exaggerated losses in the future. MORE

Oct. 28, 2011

Closure of Arthur Andersen in wake of Enron scandal in 2001 left just four big accounting firms, number watchdog groups consider too low. MORE

Oct. 27, 2011

Some chief executives say any company, no matter how small, can benefit from having a financial chief to help organize its finances and track its performance; typically, however, hiring one does not become essential until firms reach tipping point of $10 million to $20 million in revenue. MORE

Oct. 21, 2011

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column contends excessive secrecy mandated by Sarbanes-Oxley law protects corrupt accounting firms because of delay in reporting results of inquiries; notes Public Company Accounting Oversight Board identified major problems with audits conducted by Deloitte & Touche in 2007, but confidentiality requirements prevented release of findings until 41 months later. MORE

Oct. 18, 2011

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board releases report criticizing accounting firm Deloitte & Touche, saying that the company lacks an adequate system of quality control in its audits. MORE

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Though a complete conversion to international rules by the United States is highly unlikely, it seems possible that some domestic companies will be allowed to convert to international rules if they wish.